The actor played especially coy in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, where the publication asked if there's any truth to reports that he and Riverdale co-star Lili Reinhartare dating IRL. E! News previously reported that Cole and Lily started dating sometime over the summer, as made evident by their PDA-filled weekend at 2017 Comic-Con and subsequent date nights.

So what does Cole think about the Bughead hysteria? He told EW, "Since the show began, people have wanted Lili and I to be together. People have wanted Lili and Cami [Mendes] to be together. People have wanted KJ [Apa] and I to be together. People have wanted every actor on this show to be in a union that they could make real and talk about."

The former Disney star, 25, added, "So I think that kind of discussion, especially because it's based so much on rumor and hearsay, needs to be taken with a grain of salt."

But Cole isn't necessarily complaining about a sudden interest in their personal lives because as he sees it, fans are just responding positively to their onscreen efforts.

He explained, "But, truthfully, it's very pleasing that people talk about Lili and I in that way because it means that we're resonating so strongly from our character perspective that people really want that to be true."

"I think as professional actors we can pat ourselves on the back for that and go, ‘This was a success.' It was such a success that people want to see it in real life."

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Earlier this month, Reinhart came to her could-be boyfriend's defense after a fan accused him of being "so rude" when she approached him in public. The Twitter user also called the Riverdale co-stars "disgusting and rude," which prompted Lili, 21, to react online.

"You do not have the right to approach STRANGERS and throw your arms around us like you know us. What you did was not cool and inappropriate," she tweeted. "Cole's response to you was 'do I know you?' After you rudely invaded our space and got in our faces."

Riverdale returns to The CW on Wednesday, Oct. 11. Hear more from the cast of Riverdale in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly.